Interview with L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio (12 May 1980)

On Monday, 12 May 1980, the Holy Father granted an interview to L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio, responding to questions on his lasting impressions of the Journey. 

Question: Holiness: What is the most vivid impression that remains in your mind and heart, at the end of this African pilgrimage?

Answer:I think it is above all the impression of a meeting, if this word is considered in its true meaning. Meeting means being together; that the two parties, the two people want to meet, that is what they want and desire. And for me this has been the fundamental impression, because I have strongly wanted to get closer to that continent, to those countries, to that Church, to that Christianity, as soon as possible, and I have seen that the same desire existed on their part, that the various countries and the various Churches wanted the same thing. And so, we have experienced the fullness of that encounter, especially in the existential sense. Perhaps it is also difficult for me to determine what the person of the Pope, the person of the Bishop of Rome, Successor of Peter, means for them. But perhaps there is something different in relation to the meaning that we Europeans, also Christians, give it: something less abstract, perhaps less theological, but very profound in the affective sense. Affective sense means for them existential sense. They live with their hearts, just as they also live with their bodies, they live with their African spirit, they live, they express themselves with a sincere heart, with full expression. And in this sense my general impression is the impression of an encounter.

Q.: Do you think that the response given by Africa to your gestures and your words demonstrates the full maturity of the continent in terms of the contribution it can make to the universal Church?

A.:Certainly there is maturity. Naturally, maturity is always relative; that maturity means at the same time youth. They are young, they are also young in faith, in their Christianity. Our Christian traditions, our history, also the history of my people, are thousands of years old; In Ghana and Zaire, on the other hand, the Church is one hundred years old, and in other African countries, even less. They are young. Therefore, it is about the maturity of a young man. Another thing is the maturity of someone who is already old, of an old man. The words that I heard Mons. Tchidimbo when I first saw him after he was released. He told me like this: "I am convinced that the Church in Africa is now quite mature to face all possible tests." I think that this should be considered as an essential aspect of his maturity. But above all, that maturity is maturity of youth, maturity of joy, maturity of strength, maturity of feeling themselves, of finding themselves in this Church as in their Church. It is not the Church imported from outside, it is his Church, the Church lived authentically, in an African way. All of us have seen, heard and observed this; Hence, we too experience great joy for this Africanness, because a Church that was something imported, foreign, not our own, would still not be an authentic and authentically mature Church.

Q.: What has been the most significant moment, the moment that can be remembered as the most significant, of so many days, of so many diverse encounters?

A.:I would say that there has not been a single moment that has not been significant. They all have been, each in their own way, in their style: this is the answer to the question. I can also say that there have been some moments that have particularly impressed me. Sometimes, they have been very brief moments. For example, when the king of the Ashantes told me in our conversation: "It was my predecessor who first received the missionaries of the Church here." And he said it with joy: "We welcome the first priests, the first missionaries in our country." It was a very significant moment because it was worth a testimony: the testimony of the centenary of evangelization, the still living tradition of those who were there when the first missionaries arrived, the memory of how they were received, how they were treated. Another moment that was deeply engraved in my heart and in my memory was the meeting with the Zairian Carmelite nuns in their convent. It was a beautiful meeting, very authentic. And also very special, because it was the only meeting in which we were surprised by the rain, which seemed to have waited for precisely that moment, that of the Pope's visit to the nuns, to fall with all its force and wet them all. There have been other similar moments, but I have remembered those by way of example. Now, the real answer to that question is that not a single moment has ceased to be significant. They have all been full of meaning. because it was the only meeting in which we were surprised by the rain, which seemed to have waited for precisely that moment, that of the Pope's visit to the nuns, to fall with all its force and wet them all. There have been other similar moments, but I have remembered those by way of example. Now, the real answer to that question is that not a single moment has ceased to be significant. They have all been full of meaning. because it was the only meeting in which we were surprised by the rain, which seemed to have waited for precisely that moment, that of the Pope's visit to the nuns, to fall with all its force and wet them all. There have been other similar moments, but I have remembered those by way of example. Now, the real answer to that question is that not a single moment has ceased to be significant. They have all been full of meaning.

Q.: Africans have greeted and welcomed Your Holiness as a pilgrim of peace. Do you think that the conditions exist to be able to truly hope for a future of peace for this continent?

A.:It would have to be said that they have a great need for peace, a great need. And they say it, manifest it and pray for peace. If they could continue to be, in the future, masters of their own destiny, of their own situations, I am sure they would have peace. They will have peace. Because they see before them many, many problems to solve, for which peace is essential. They see everything: they see that they would gain nothing with the war, with the fight. Besides. I think they are by nature peaceful in their attitudes. They have a sense of community, they have a spirit of solidarity within their own family and their own tribe and I would even say that within their own nation, although this is not yet such a determined reality, but it is already beginning to be so. They would not want war because they love life, because they love the family and because they see that peace is the fundamental condition for building their own future. It is up to others not to force war on them; involving them in a war would truly be a disaster for this young continent, for these young peoples, for the young political structures of these young states. I think that the responsibility of the western world above all and of the great powers is very great.

Q.: Holy Father: After having drawn the attention of the entire world to the African continent, what would your message now be to Western Christendom regarding what they should do for Africa?

A.:I think it is a point that should be considered. It can be said that what I have been saying up to now during this trip, during this pilgrimage, has at the same time been a message for the whole Church, also for the Church of Europe, and not only of Europe, but for the life of the Christendom of the whole world in relation to Africa. One absolutely must think anew about this experience and about the various elements of it, in order to project them in that exact perspective, that is, as directed to the life of the whole of Christianity. In any case, if I must say something "at first sight", it seems to me that the Church in Africa is still a Church in a state of mission, a missionary Church, a Church in a state of implantation, of growth; a Church that must be helped, but from which many things can also be learned. And in various fields it has a lot to teach us, because Africans are already perfectly aware that they are Christians, that they are Church and that they live their own lives as Church, their own human and Christian reality, evidently. On this point we must be very careful not to destroy anything, certainly helping them, and above all considering them sister Churches, sister Churches in Africa. They still have a great need for missionaries and authentic missionaries, who continue in the doctrinal and pastoral line required by the peculiar situation of those Churches. They receive them and will always receive them with great friendship and enthusiasm. But I think that the time has come for us to begin to reflect on how to receive the gifts that they carry, because they already carry a gift, better said, many gifts. That is what may be, more or less, the answer to your question.

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